


We'll get through this together

by Missmaddiej



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alcohol, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Budding Love, Childhood Trauma, Fights, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, King Thor (Marvel), M/M, Reconciliation, Recovery, Time Skips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2020-02-10 22:35:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18669730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Missmaddiej/pseuds/Missmaddiej
Summary: *ENDGAME SPOILERS*In the months following Thanos' death, Thor is struggling as King, so Valkyrie enlist Bruce to help him.





	1. Help from a friend

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much to Calzone for editing this!

It had been a few months since Thor had killed Thanos, when Valkyrie turned up on Bruce's doorstep. After everything had gone down, Tony gave Bruce an apartment, an open invitation to his lab, and an invitation to his wedding. The latter had only been a few weeks beforehand, so Bruce was spending more time at home to give the happy couple some privacy.

It surprised him when he heard the knock, because there wasn't really anyone who would come and visit him. "Valkyrie, hey," Bruce said softly, smiling up at the warrior.

“He needs you,” she replied, her face hardened. She didn’t have to say much else, they both knew who she was talking about.

“How is he?” Bruce asked. In the few months since he had last seen Thor, Bruce had worried about him. He had been through a lot and wasn’t really in a good place when everyone went their separate ways, but Bruce had hoped he had gotten better rather than worse.

"Not well. We've seen him less and less lately, I know the workload's a lot, and I've tried to help him, but he won't let me. He'll barely talk to me either, always saying he's fine and then deflecting. We need our king, Bruce, and he needs you."

“What? What am I supposed to do?” Bruce replied.. It hurt him to think that Thor was hurting that badly. He was Bruce’s best friend - sometimes Bruce hoped he would become something more- but he had no idea how to help the god.

“He’ll listen to you, he’ll talk to you,” Valkyrie insisted.

Bruce nodded. He had to do this. He had to help Thor the way that Thor had helped him. “I’ll come.”

Valkyrie took Bruce to New Asgard and lead him to Thor’s...well, it was barely a house. It was a shack, more than anything. When they entered, Bruce was immediately hit with the smell of alcohol, and he tried not to gag. This would be harder than he thought.

“My king, I have returned,” Valkyrie called into the house.

"Valkyrie!" Thor exclaimed, heading towards the pair. "Oh! You brought Bruce with you, too! It's so good to see you, Banner!" Thor added, before pulling the smaller man into a hug. He reeked of alcohol, and Bruce tried to keep the embrace as short as possible. "So, what are you doing here, Banner?"

“Val said you could use some help, so I came to check up on you,” Bruce explained.

Thor’s face dropped. “Thank you for your concern, but I can assure you that I am perfectly fine, Banner.”

Bruce nodded disbelievingly. “Well, that’s good, I’m still probably going to stay for a bit, and look around; is there somewhere I can stay?”

“You could stay with me,” Valkyrie suggested.

Bruce agreed. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

“I can show you the way,” she replied, heading back towards the door.

“It was nice seeing you again, Thor,” Bruce said, before following Valkyrie to the door.

Just as the two of them left the house, Thor called out,“It was nice seeing you too Banner.”

“There’s a spare room you can take,” Valkyrie explained once they arrived at her house.

"Thanks, Valkyrie," Bruce replied, before adding, "It's really that bad, huh."

“Yep,” she said, popping the _p_. “I think the workload is wearing him down on top of everything else. He wasn’t as bad when we first settled here, but he’s just been getting worse.”

“And you’re working to lighten the load.”

“Yeah, when he lets me. Often, he talks of me having better things to do than paperwork, and how it isn’t my job, and just anything, really to get me out of the house.” Valkyrie sighed, frustrated before whispering. “He blames himself. For Asgard, for Loki, for ...for Thanos. He blames himself for us being in this situation; that’s why he wants to do it alone.”

“But he shouldn’t have to,” Bruce argued.

“I agree, that’s what you’re here to convince him of,” Valkyrie reminded him.

“So, what are we going to do?”

"Well, he likes you; honestly, you could probably just ask to help, and he would let you.”

“I’ll try. Thank you for letting me stay here.”

“Of course, Bruce, you’re a friend.”

The next morning, Valkyrie cooked the two of them breakfast, along with a third serving to be taken to Thor. Soon after, they left for the god’s house.

“Hey, Thor, I brought you breakfast,” Bruce said as he entered Thor’s shack.

Thor looked up from the papers he was bent over. “Ah, Banner, welcome. Thank you for the food, but you’re my guest. Shouldn’t I be feeding you?”

“Yeah, normally, but I know when I’m caught up in work I forget to eat sometimes, so I wanted to make sure that you’re getting food,” Bruce explained.

“Thank you, Banner,” Thor said again, grabbing the plate.

Bruce noticed dark circles under Thor’s eyes and asked. “Hey, did you get any sleep last night?”

Thor shook his head. “No, there’s so much work to be done, I don’t have time to sleep,” he admitted.

Bruce looked at him sadly, before suggesting. “How about this: you finish eating, and show me what you’re working on, and then you can get some rest while I finish up for you.”

“Banner, I couldn’t burden you like that. And besides, this is a king’s job, and you are not a king.”

“Even kings need breaks sometimes,” Bruce retorted.

“I suppose-and in honesty I do need one-but I still can’t allow you to do this, Banner.”

“Paperwork is your duty?” Bruce asked, raising an eyebrow.

“At times, I suppose it is,” Thor mused.

“Thor please, take a break.”

“I wish I could, Banner, but there is too much to be done.”

“Then let me help you,” Bruce argued. “Then you’ll be finished sooner, and you can take your hard-earned break.”

“Fine,” Thor grumbled, giving into Bruce’s request. As Thor showed Bruce how to do the paperwork, Bruce learned more and more about the Asgardian people. Within a few hours, they were done.

“There we go; all done. Now you can take your nap, Thor,” Bruce said, smiling.

Thor nodded. “I guess I can. Thank you so much for your help, Banner.”

“You’re welcome, Thor, now please, get some sleep,” Bruce insisted, getting up to leave.

"I will. Have a good day Banner.”

“Sleep well, Thor.”

From then on, that was Bruce's routine. He would wake up, bring Thor breakfast, and then spend the day helping him do his work. Bruce loved spending time with Thor, and as he did it, he got to know the other Asgardians. Occasionally, they would do late-night sessions when there was a lot of work, or they would talk to people during the day and fill out paperwork at night.

One night, Bruce came to Thor's house and found the king sitting on the couch, staring straight ahead, at nothing.

“Are you okay?” Bruce asked, sitting on the couch next to Thor.

“I took the first census since the slaughters,” Thor said, his voice devoid of any emotion. “We’ve lost so many people.”

“God, I’m so sorry Thor, that must’ve been so hard for you.”

“I miss them all so much,” Thor admitted. “Mother, Loki, even Father to some extent.” A tear slid down Thor’s face.

“I’m so sorry you had to go through all of that.”

Thor couldn’t reply, his shoulders shaking as he sobbed. Bruce wrapped his arms around him and held him as he cried.

Their time together was more somber after that, as Thor started to retreat into himself. He would kick Bruce out earlier, talk to him less, and some days he wouldn’t let him in at all. Eventually, Bruce had had enough.

He knocked on Thor’s door, as he did every morning, food in hand. And as it had been for the past few days, there was no response. This time, rather than returning to Valkyrie’s house, Bruce entered Thor’s house with the key he had given him for emergencies. When he entered, it reminded him of the first time he had been there, with the overwhelming smell of alcohol and the mess everywhere.

“Thor!” Bruce called as he walked further into the house. He cringed at what he saw when he entered the living room. It was an all-too-familiar sight from his childhood, except instead of his father passed out on the couch, drunk, it was Thor.

Bruce took a deep breath. “You got this, Banner,” he said under his breath, trying to calm himself down. Bruce hulked out his arms and carried Thor to his room. After that, he went through the shack, taking out and emptying all the bottles of alcohol.

After cleaning up a bit, he was about to leave, when he heard a voice call out to him.

“Banner?” Thor was in the doorway of his house, looking confused. “Banner, what are you doing here?”

Bruce froze, and turned slowly, not wanting to startle or upset Thor. "Hey, I brought you some food. I came to work, but you're not in the state for that, so I'm going to head out now," He explained, turning back towards the door.

“Thank you for the food, Banner,” Thor replied before rummaging through the fridge. “Banner, where is my beer?”

“I, um, I poured it out.”

“You what?” Thor said, angrily.

“I poured it out,” Bruce said, more confidently this time.

"Why would you do that?" Thor asked, his voice rising.

Bruce tried to stand his ground. “Because you’re a fucking mess, Thor.”

“You have no right!” Thor roared.

Bruce couldn't handle it anymore. "Have a nice day, Thor," he said, his voice deadly calm, before leaving the house.

Bruce struggled not to cry as he hurried to Valkyrie’s house, practically collapsing on the couch as he entered. He couldn’t do it, he couldn’t stay. Valkyrie rushed over to him.

“What happened?” she asked, wrapping her arms around him as he began to cry. “Thor, he, he...I can’t. I can’t stay,” Bruce choked out.

"I'll talk to him," Valkyrie growled, getting up to leave.

“No!” Bruce cried out. “Not until I’m gone. He’ll, he’ll come after me.”

“He won’t, Bruce,” Valkyrie reassured him. “He’s not like that, he would never hurt you.”

“Please wait until I leave,” Bruce begged.

Valkyrie nodded. "Alright, pack up, and I can take you back."

Bruce sat there for a bit, taking deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. Then he packed his bags and got ready to leave. The drive back to Bruce’s apartment in New York was quiet. Valkyrie was concerned about Bruce, and what he had gone through with Thor, but Bruce wasn’t ready to open up about it yet. He returned to his apartment and decided to just try to forget about it all.


	2. Reconciliation

It had been a few months since Thor and Bruce’s incident in New Asgard, and Bruce had gotten back into the swing of things. He and Tony had been working in their lab together, but Tony had been down there less and less with his daughter on the way. It had been one of the rare nights where Bruce was alone in his apartment when, once again, there was a knock on his door. When he opened it, he was surprised: It was Thor, looking much better than he had when they had last talked, but also deeply apologetic.

“Banner,” Thor said softly, noticing the fear in Bruce’s eyes.

“What do you want?” Bruce asked sharply.

“To apologize, after our...” He paused “...conversation. Valkyrie came to talk to me; she said that I hurt you, and for that I am sorry,” Thor said sincerely.

“I accept your apology, Thor,” Bruce replied. “You’re looking a lot better.”

Thor smiled awkwardly. "Yeah, after everything happened between us, I realized how I was affecting the people around me, so I made more of an effort to better myself. I officially named Valkyrie my royal advisor, and I've been working to be a better king.”

“That’s great, I’m proud of you!” Bruce exclaimed.

“I want you to come back and help me as well. You can be my royal advisor, alongside Valkyrie,” Thor suggested.

Bruce froze. Come back? Part of him wanted to. He loved his time in New Asgard; he loved being around Thor and Valkyrie, and the people. But, even looking at Thor now. he couldn’t help but think of that night, and many other nights like it.

“Thor, I can’t,” Bruce explained sadly “I said that I accepted your apology, but not that I forgave you.”

“I understand. Valkyrie told me to prepare myself for a no.” Thor sighed then got up to leave. “Well, if you ever change your mind, you’re always welcome in New Asgard.”

Bruce sat down and thought about everything that had happened to him during his month in New Asgard. About how he had grown to love the culture, the people. How even after three months back in his apartment, New Asgard still felt like home. How Valkyrie was a fantastic roommate. And he thought about Thor. The effort he had made to improve his life. How he had come to New York just to apologize, knowing Bruce would probably dismiss him. He respected Thor for that, because at least he was trying. He thought about how,for a time, he thought there might be something more than friendship between the two of them. How maybe, with a bit of work, they could get back to that point, and perhaps even further this time.

With all that in mind, Bruce headed to New Asgard, going to Valkyrie's house as soon as he arrived. "Hey, is it okay if I stay here again?"

Valkyrie leaned against the doorframe, giving him an acknowledging nod. “Of course, Bruce. You’re always welcome here. Just give me some time to clear out the alcohol.”

“Thank you.” Bruce stepped into the house. “So what does being a Royal Advisor entail.”

“It’s the same stuff we did before: going over directives, helping him out, making sure he’s taking care of himself,” she explained, taking Bruce’s bags.

“Is there any way I can do all that without interacting with him a lot?” Bruce asked, a bit awkwardly.

“What do you mean?”

“When it comes to being around Thor, I want to work through baby steps with him Y’know, work up to seeing him daily,” Bruce explained.

“He’s doing better,” Valkyrie reassured him.

“I know, I know, I just don’t know if I can be around him again yet,” Bruce admitted.

She nodded. "That makes sense. Take your time, Bruce. I can bring home work for you, and maybe I can help him in the morning, and you can at night, since that’s when he’s least active.”

“Yeah, that sounds good. Thanks, Val.”

That became their schedule. Bruce would spend the day talking to the Asgardians and doing research. In the afternoon, Valkyrie would return to the house, with take-home work for Bruce to do. Some nights, Bruce would go over to Thor's shack to help work, and other times he would sit looking at the stars.

After a while, Thor and Bruce spent more time together. Bruce was still wary of him, but he wasn't as uncomfortable as he used to be. Not long after that, he switched with Valkyrie, going to Thor in the morning like he used to. After they did that, the two became close friends again, and would even spend time together when Bruce wasn't helping Thor.

One night, Bruce was looking at the stars as usual, when Thor came up beside him.

“May I join you?” Thor asked.

“Yeah, go ahead,” Bruce said, patting the space next to him.

“It’s beautiful isn’t it?” Thor said wistfully, and he laid down next to the scientist.

“Yeah, that’s one of the reasons I love it out here. So little light pollution, so many stars.”

“Aye, it’s why many of us feel at home here,” Thor explained.

"Yeah, that makes sense."

Thor sat up and looked at Bruce. He was beautiful; he always had been. When Bruce left, Thor thought he had lost him for good. But then he came back, and this time, Thor would not let him go. "Banner," He said softly.

“Yeah,” Bruce replied, sitting up as well.

Thor pulled Bruce into a gentle kiss, putting everything that words couldn’t say into it.

Bruce froze. Thor was kissing him. Thor was kissing _him._ Bruce had wanted this for so long, and it had finally happened. Just as he started to kiss back, Thor pulled away, his face red.

“I apologize, Banner, that was very forward of me.”

Bruce chuckled and lightly shook his head, before pulling Thor into another a kiss.

“I-I wasn’t aware that you felt as I did Banner,” Thor said, leaning back.

“I have for a while. Just, with everything that’s happened, there hasn’t been a right time,” Bruce explained.

“I thought I had lost your affection after-” Thor cut himself off, looking ashamed.

“I still cared about you during that time, I just… what happened, it hit a little too close to home for me.”

“How so?” Thor asked, confused.

Bruce shook his head. “I can’t… I can’t tell you that right now. I’m sorry. I want us to have a nice night.”

“I understand, Banner. It’s fine; we don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” Thor said reassuringly.

Bruce nodded, before leaning against Thor, who wrapped his arm around the smaller man. 

 

 

 A year later found Thor and Bruce still working together as King and Royal Advisor. It had become easier since Thor and Bruce had moved in together, a few months into their relationship.

They had just finished some paperwork when Thor cleared his throat. “Banner, I was thinking…”

"What is it, babe?" Bruce asked, looking up at his boyfriend.

“Well, you’ve been such an amazing help as royal advisor; I was thinking about making you my consort,” Thor said.

“Your consort,” Bruce echoed. “Like, you want to marry me?”

“If you’ll have me,” Thor said softly.

“Of course, I'll marry you, Thor,” Bruce said, before lovingly kissing his fiancé.

Thor let out an excited laugh. “I love you so, so much, Bruce Banner.”

“I love you too Thor,” Bruce replied, grinning.

 

 

Four years later, there was another knock on their door. Assuming it was an Asgardian with an issue, Bruce called, “I’ll get it!”

"Thank you, love," Thor replied from the living room, where he was playing Fortnite.

Bruce opened the door to see Steve Rodgers, and Natasha Romanov, and some random guy with them.

“Good to see you, Banner,” Steve said, nodding at the shorter man.

Bruce blinked, surprised. "It's good to see you too, Steve.” He gave Nat a nod of acknowledgment, and then turned to the final man. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

“I’m Scott Lang! I’m a big fan of your work, Dr. Banner,” Scott said excitedly. Bruce smiled awkwardly.

“So, what are you all doing here?” Bruce asked, leading the group into the house. They gathered around the kitchen table just as Thor came in from the living room. “Did you win?” Bruce asked his husband.

“I did, Bruce!” Thor replied, his eyes bright as he high-fived Bruce “Hello, Cap, Romanov, and… you are?”

“I’m Scott Lang. Holy shit, you’re Thor! Wait, holy shit, since when do Thor and Bruce Banner live together?” Scott asked, his eyes wide.

“Since like… four years ago,” Bruce said. “So, what did you guys need?”

"We're going to get them back, whatever it takes," Steve replied, a determined look on his face.

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on tumblr [here](https://missmaddiewriting.tumblr.com/)  
> 


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